


Progress

by aeternamente



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Darcy's game, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 09:39:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeternamente/pseuds/aeternamente
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day after Darcy's unexpected meeting with Lizzie, he feels strangely happy...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Progress

Thursday morning was a flurry of meetings and observations, the compulsory result of returning from a business trip. Darcy refused to let himself be distracted, because he knew exactly where his thoughts would go if he let them wander. But it actually wasn’t terribly difficult to stay focused. If anything, he felt lighter, more energetic than he had in some months, and he poured this energy into his work. He discussed the merits of new ideas, checked up on works in progress, and ate lunch in the cafe with his employees, which made them laugh and tease him about his deigning to socialize with lowly underlings (he took it in good humor)—it was a spectacularly and surprisingly productive morning.

So it was one in the afternoon, back in his office, before he was at leisure to pay the slightest mind to the subject that usually weighed heavily on his brain on Thursdays (and Mondays too, for that matter)—Lizzie’s videos. He had sworn off watching them only a few episodes after he left Collins and Collins, and was as good as his word for quite some time, though the passing of each Monday and Thursday never completely lost significance in his mind.

But a week ago, a series of not-so-cryptic tweets exchanged between Fitz and Gigi had made him suspicious. That was when he pulled up her latest video (from a week before, rendering his two latest video-related panics completely unnecessary in hindsight) and became startlingly aware of the location of Lizzie’s next shadowing assignment. He’d returned to Pemberley yesterday and attended his first board meeting, every moment wondering if the next moment would bring Lizzie back into his life—but as it turned out, it was Gigi who did that the moment his meeting was over.

He supposed he should be more worried, since he almost certainly featured on today’s video, but on the other hand, this was his first appearance on her videos in which he wasn’t either being an ass or apologizing for being an ass. Sure, it hadn’t been the most comfortable of conversations, but once over the initial shock (and annoyance at Gigi), he had been determined to be pleasant and courteous. And if he’d let himself stare at her a little too long a few times, well, it wasn’t as if she was unaware of his feelings—there was nothing to hide now, and that felt strangely liberating.

Perhaps he could start over with her—do things  _right_  this time.

_Tap, tap, tap._

“Hey, Darce-man,” Fitz said, poking his head through Darcy’s office door. “How about going out for some drinks tonight? I believe a celebration is in order.”

“And what are we celebrating?” Darcy asked, though he thought he had an idea.

Fitz laughed and stepped fully into Darcy’s office, closing the door behind him. “We are celebrating the improvement of your game.”

Darcy fought back a smile. “I take it you watched today’s video?”

“Watched it, co-engineered it with the help of your lovely sister—but it wouldn’t have been quite the success it was without your dazzling charm, you suave, handsome devil.” Fitz straightened his posture and facial expression. “’ _The hills in this city can be quite unforgiving._ ’” He finished off the impersonation with a sultry gaze before dropping the act with a grin. “That, sir, was an impressive pick-up line.”

Darcy shrugged (though unable to continue to hide his smile). “It didn’t work, though.”

“Patience, patience. We’ll get there eventually.”

Darcy tried to be skeptical. Skepticism had for so long been his only defense against complete and utter collapse, but the hope that was beginning to swell up inside of him would not be ignored—hope springing from those little moments yesterday when she’d looked at him, and he thought she’d seemed pleasantly surprised, from the memory of the pressure of her hand against his wrist.

“For now, let’s just be happy that  _progress is being made_.” Fitz shot Darcy another smile as he reached for the door. “I  _will_  see you tonight at eight, right?”

Darcy nodded, and Fitz cheered. “Yeah, that’s right, because you know you hit it out of the  _park_  yesterday.”

As Fitz exited the office, Darcy didn’t even try to hide his smile.


End file.
